The present inventive concept relates to a memory controller for controlling a non-volatile memory device, an electronic device having the memory controller and a method for operating the memory controller.
Memory devices are generally categorized as either volatile or non-volatile. Volatile memory devices are characterized by the loss of stored contents upon entry of a power-off state. Examples of volatile memory devices include certain types of random access memory (RAM) such as a static RAM (SRAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), and the like.
In contrast, nonvolatile memory devices are characterized by the retention of stored contents even during a power-off condition. Examples of nonvolatile memory devices include a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory device, a phase-change RAM (PRAM), a magnetic RAM (MRAM), a resistive RAM (RRAM), a ferroelectric RAM (FRAM), and the like. Among these, the flash memory (which is derived from EEPROM technology), performs memory erase operations on a memory block basis, and program operations on a memory cell basis.